The night was silent while it’s raining.
The muddy street stretches through the darkness almost completely deserted.
The sky is a deep,dark blue, and only few weak street light flickers along the street, barely illuminating the surroundings.The atmosphere is cold and quiet.
Suddenly, the distant sound of an old bus engine breaks the silence.
The old bus come speeding down the muddy street before coming to an abrupt stop.
But before it completely stopped,three rough men violently threw a young lady covered in bruises out through an open door.She hit the muddy ground hard while weeping hard.Then the bus begin moving again almost immediately.
The men disappear into the darkness leaving the lady behind as the vehicle accelerate away,its red tail lights gradually becoming smaller until they vanish into the night.The young lady lay motionless beneath the pouring rain.
She is badly injured and covered with many bruises and dirt.Her clothes are torn and muddy, and her body trembles from exhaustion and pain.
She tries to lift herself but doesn’t have enough strength.Tears stream down her face as she struggles to breatheShe looks around the deserted street, but there is no one there.
No one comes to help.
Her breathing becomes weaker.
Her fingers slowly curl into the muddy ground as she realizes that she may not survive the night.Tears mixed with the rain streaming down her face.
With the last strength left in her body, she whispers something barely audible before lowering her head against the cold, muddy road.She cries silently, believing that this is where her life will end.
Then …
A pair of polished black shoes suddenly appears behind her.
She freezes in shock trembling….
The shoes stops a few feet away from her.
A man stands silently in the darkness.
He is dressed in a perfectly tailored trousers and polished black shoes,in one hand he holds a large black umbrella sheilding the lady on the ground from the waterfall.
The dim streetlight casts his long shadow across the muddy ground and over the injured lady.
But his face remains completely hidden in the darkness.He stood there without saying a word,his gaze remain fixed on the young lady lying helplessly in the mud.
The bruises scattered across her delicate skin and the blood stain on her torn clothes.
Everything about her appearance and uncontrollably trembling body told a horrifying story and judging by the state of her clothes, it was clear that she had suffered something far more terrible than a beating.
He clenched his jaw and fists,it’s as if something strucked his heart as tears begin to roll down his face.
For reasons he couldn’t explain the strange pain he had never experienced before.
Although he had seen injured people before.
He had witnessed accidents, violence, and death.
But why did this lady affect him differently?
He didn’t even know her yet seeing her lying alone in the mud, fighting desperately for every breath, made something inside him ache.Without another second of hesitation, he bent down and lifted her into his arms.
“Sir!”His bodyguard hurried toward him.
Together, they rushed to a black luxury car parked not far away.The bodyguard opened the back door and helped him settle the unconscious woman inside.The man climbed in after her.
“Take us to the nearest Hospital”
“Yes sir!!” The engine roared to life
The car sped through the dark street, while he held the lady tightly against him through the journey, his expensive black suit was becoming stained with mud and blood but he didn’t seem to notice.His eyes never left her face.Every time her breath became weaker, his heart tightened.
“Drive faster.” he snapped
Immediately the driver stepped harder on the accelerator.
The moment the car screeched to a stop in front of the hospital, he jumped out.
“Doctor!” His powerful voice echoed through the entrance.”Where are the doctors?”
Several nurses froze.His bodyguard hurried behind him.”My boss needs a doctor immediately
He carried the injured woman inside himself.
“Someone help her!”
A doctor rushed toward them.”What happened?”
“Treat her.” His voice was cold, commanding.”Immediately.”
The doctor took one look at the woman’s condition and immediately understood the urgency.
“Emergency room.
Now!”A team of nurses rushed forward and transferred her onto a stretcher.
The doors to the emergency theatre swung open then they closed as he stood motionless.
For the first time that night, he realized that his hands were covered in blood and dirt.
His expensive suit was ruined,his polished shoes were stained with mud but he didn’t care.He began pacing back and forth in front of the emergency room, his bodyguards exchanged confused glances.Their boss was never like this he was known for his coldness.He rarely show his emotion and never allowed anyone see him lose control.
Yet tonight he was broken because of a complete stranger.Then a tear rolled down his cheek as he lowered his head and covered his face with one hand.Through the glass window, he could see doctors and nurses moving frantically around the operating table.His eyes remained fixed on the woman.Several minutes later, a nurse approached him.
“Mr.
Whitmore?”He lifted his head.”Yes?”
The nurse glanced down at her clipboard.
“What’s the patient’s name?”
Mr.
Whitmore froze.
The question struck him unexpectedly.
Her name?
He opened his mouth.
Nothing came out.He suddenly realized something,he didn’t know anything about her,not her name,age not where she came from.
Not who had hurt her,nothing.She was a complete stranger.His bodyguard noticed the hesitation immediately before the situation could become suspicious, he stepped forward.
“Her name is Valentina.” he said
Mr.
Whitmore slowly turned toward him.
Valentina!The name lingered in his mind,his eyes met his bodyguard’s.
Gor a moment, neither man spoke.Then Mr.
Whitmore looked back toward the emergency room.
“Valentina…”
For some reason, the name felt strangely right.
He didn’t know who she was nor where she came from and he certainly didn’t know why he had risked everything to save her.But one thing was certain.
He wasn’t going to let her die not tonight.
He kept pacing back and forth, anxiously waiting for the doctors to give him some positive news about her treatment.
Every few seconds, his eyes drifted towards the treatment room, hoping someone would come out with an update.After what felt like an eternity, one of the doctors approached him.
Unlike the others, the doctor walked towards him calmly and quietly, his expression serious.
“Sir,” he said, stopping in front of him, “the patient you brought in… has she been subjected to any form of physical or sexual assault?”
The question caught him off guard.
For a brief moment, nervousness flashed across his face.
But he quickly composed himself.
He was confident that he had done nothing wrong, and there was nothing about the situation he needed to hide.He took a slow breath before answering.
“No,” he said calmly.
“Not that I know of.”
Then he began explaining everything the circumstances surrounding how he had met her, what had happened before he brought her to the hospital, and everything he had witnessed.
As he spoke, the doctor listened carefully,occasionally asking questions to clarify certain details.
“The police,” the doctor said.
The words jolted Mr.
Whitmore awake.
For a moment, he simply stared at the doctor, as though those two words had pulled him out of a distant memory.
He finally realized this was no longer a situation he could handle himself.Yet, strangely, something inside him refused to let him walk away from the unconscious lady.
“Call the police.
Right now,” he ordered his bodyguard.
“Tell them it’s a suspected case of sexual assault.”
The bodyguard immediately pulled out his phone and made the call but Mr.
Whitmore barely noticed.
His heart was still racing as he stared through the glass at the stranger fighting for her life.
He couldn’t understand why he cared so much.
He had spent years building walls around his emotions, yet this young lady someone whose name he didn’t even knowhad somehow slipped past every one of them.
Then the memories came rushing back.
The hospital smell,the cold walls and the helplessness.His mother’s pale face lying on a hospital bed many years ago.he had watched her fight for every breath, desperately wishing he could do something anything to save her but he couldn’t.
“Mummy… you must not die,” he whispered.
The words escaped his lips before he even realized what he had said.
His eyes widened.This wasn’t his mother.
It was a complete stranger.He stared through the glass as the doctors surrounded her motionless body then, just before the curtains were pulled shut, the lady’s hand suddenly moved.
Her fingers curled weakly around something beneath her palm.
A tiny silver necklace.
Mr.
Whitmore’s eyes locked onto it,his face went completely pale because he knew that necklace.
He had seen it once before around his mother’s neck….